BITTERSWEET GOODBYE – Salvation Army Majors Ralph and Donna Hansen will be departing Cape Cod for Attleboro after nearly six years of service with the Salvation Army. A farewell reception is planned for Jan. 31 at the Salvation Army.

Salvation Army majors headed for Attleboro, Romance

Almost smack dab in the middle of Arkansas is a tiny town called Romance. It is there, on a little farm in very rural country, that Salvation Army Majors Ralph and Donna Hansen look forward to resting, relaxing and spending quality time with their family.

First, however, they’ve got to spend a little time in Attleboro, which is fine with the Hansens. It’s all part of a plan that begins with a bittersweet farewell to Cape Cod, where they’ve worked with the SA for nearly six years.

“We were hoping we’d be here until retirement, but God had other plans for us,” said Ralph.

God and the Salvation Army. Both Ralph and Donna acknowledge that it’s customary for the SA to move people in the organization from place to place every so many years.

The Hansens came to Cape Cod five and a half years ago from Fitchburg, where they’d spent six years working with that area’s Salvation Army. Prior to that the happily nomadic couple was stationed in Hornell, N.Y., Hackensack, N.J., and Worcester.

“We’ve been around the block a few times,” Ralph said.

Ralph’s career with the SA began when he was still a child attending Sunday school at the Salvation Army in New York City where he grew up. That experience put him on the path that led to his work with the Salvation Army.

During a stint in the Air Force, Ralph was stationed in Little Rock, Ark., during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

“My first assignment was Little Rock Air Force Base,” he said, “When Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis. It was quite interesting.”

In 1967 Ralph met Donna, who was originally from New Orleans. The couple married in North Little Rock, and there began the journey that has brought them to numerous venues during their 30 years of service to the Salvation Army.

Both said that it was on Cape Cod that they had the most experience working with homeless people.

“There was some work with homelessness in Hackensack, but not on the scale that we have here,” said Ralph.

Something Ralph appreciated in regards to such work was the collaboration between services on Cape.

“There is some great collaboration here,” he said.

What kept both Hansens passionately involved in their work were the people with whom they interacted through the years.

“I’m going to miss the community,” said Donna of Cape Cod. “The parishioners as well as those we serve each day and the volunteers. We have some special volunteers.”

Donna’s work with her Salvation Army volunteers was one of the most rewarding aspects of her job.

“I just really enjoy working with them,” she said. “There’s a lot to miss. It was very enriching to serve alongside these folks.”

People were also an important aspect of Ralph’s work with the SA.

“I’m going to miss the people in the church as well as the clients we work with every day,” he said. “There are some really good people.”

Often during the workday, Ralph would head outside to the smoking area of the SA offices on North Street in Hyannis to talk with clients and check up on them. He would also spend time with folks taking part in the Overnights of Hospitality program.

“As they’re waiting for pickup to the church I would talk with them,” he said. “The busyness of the day was pretty well finished, so the quietness of being able to talk to them one-on-one let me get to know them better.”

Donna was also fond of the Salvation Army’s youth programs, through which she learned how musically gifted many of the Cape’s young people are.

Alan Burt, a longtime advocate in the fight against homelessness and coordinator of the Overnights program, said that what he will long remember is the Hansen’s dedication to their work.

“They are among the most…hardworking individuals that I’ve ever met,” he said. “They’ve done extraordinary work at the Salvation Army.”

Although their departure is a little nerve-wracking for the SA staff, Burt is confident that the Hansen’s positive impact will be lasting.

“I’m fully convinced that, although it’s a little scary that they’re leaving, because the Salvation Army does so much, they’ve got strong programs and a strong staff,” Burt said. “The Salvation Army on Cape Cod will continue on.”

To celebrate the Hansens’ ongoing efforts on Cape Cod, a public farewell reception is being held for the couple at the Salvation Army in Hyannis at 1 p.m. Jan. 31.

They will be receiving certificates from Sen. Rob O’Leary’s office, letters from the Cape Cod Council of Churches and from Homeless Not Hopeless.

As the Hansens pack their belongings in preparation for their Feb. 1 move to Attleboro, they are filled with bittersweet emotion. Both admit to leaving a piece of their hearts here.

“My grandchildren love coming here and going to the beaches,” she said.

In time, however, the Hansens will reach retirement, something both are looking forward to. Then it will be time to move to their tiny farmhouse in Romance where they can entertain their three sons and their families, including 13 grandchildren.

As they depart, they encourage those on Cape Cod to keep the faith.

“Thank you for a wonderful time, and continue volunteering and sharing your love with this community,” said Donna.